Hunted
by Hemlockconium
Summary: ""You're special Lea". But that wasn't all he'd said. He'd called me an oddity. An anomaly amongst even the supernatural." Is it possible to stop something when you already know it's going to happen? Or does destiny play a bigger role in all of this? Lea has a near perfect life, but that life is about to take a drastic turn. The only question that remains is: will she survive it?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Darkest Powers books or characters or the Women of the Otherworld books or characters that all belongs to Kelley Armstrong

PROLOGUE

Running, faster and faster. Had to get away from... from what? I tried to look over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of my pursuer but saw only a man shaped patch of darkness.

I tripped and fell, I couldn't get back up, my foot had gotten caught in something, a branch. I glanced around trying to get some kind of bearings but there were none to be had. I was surrounded by trees, not a forest though, it was too neat and tidy, an orchard, it was overgrown and obviously no longer in use, and now I recognized it. The orchard that grew near where I lived.

A roar from behind me, I managed to free myself but as I regained my footing the clouds above my head cleared letting through a stream of moonlight and the man materialized fully. I didn't recognize him but he looked familiar, and he felt... wrong. As I contemplated that matter I realized that I'd fallen to the ground again, I tried to scramble back up but my legs wouldn't respond and he was getting closer.

I didn't know why I was so afraid of the stranger, but as I argued with the blind panic raging inside me trying to calm it down, I saw him take something out of his pocket. A knife, smeared with drops of blood.

That's when I felt it. A pain in my side that I hadn't noticed before. I moved my hand down to the spot just above my right hip and it came back sticky and covered in red. It took me about two seconds to realize it was blood and as I did the dull ache I'd been feeling just moments before became an excruciating agony that attempted to drag me into darkness.

My pursuer stopped about ten feet away, twirling the knife in his hands, watching me as I lay on the ground, holding my side, my face scrunched up in pain, and he smiled, it was not a kind smile.

The dread that filled me was like solid lead, I could no longer move, all I could do was look at my assailant as he walked slowly toward me, taking pleasure in this moment.

He had a completely unexceptional face apart from a scar running along his jaw line, his nose was hooked and his brow was hidden by unkempt brown hair. Eventually my eyes found his and there was nothing there other than dark soulless pits of malice.

I averted my gaze quickly, unwilling to be swallowed by the abyss, as I did so I heared running footsteps. I looked up but my pursuer was still slowly advancing toward me, unaware of the sound that was seemingly coming from everywhere, all around us the thundering sounds of footsteps echoed through the orchard.

As my tormentor got closer so did the person crashing through the greenery, until a boy materialized from behind a tree, out of breath and panting. About my age, a couple of inches taller than me, broad shouldered with wavy blond hair and worried blue eyes. Daniel. He looked from me to the knife wielder and shouted.

I swear that's all he did, and the man flew into a tree. Daniel ran toward me and helped me to my feet. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't even get the first word out before my pursuer was back on his feet, his eyes blazing an unnatural orange color, he ran toward us, knife in hand. I closed my eyes.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Darkest Powers books or characters or the Women of the Otherworld books or characters that all belongs to Kelley Armstrong

CHAPTER ONE

I sat bolt upright in my bed gulping down cold air, my throat was raw and it hurt to breath but the pain helped me focus.

I was in my bed, the sheets were strewn all over the place and I was covered in sweat. I couldn't remember the nightmare that had woken me, it could have been the same as the one that I'd been having for the past few weeks or a different one, it didn't matter, it had left my heart racing and a bad taste in my mouth, and I got the feeling I was missing something but I could never remember what.

I got out of bed and put on a sweater to fight the chill I always felt after waking up like this, even though it was mid June and I was in shorts and t-shirts during the day. I grabbed my sketch book and went downstairs careful not to wake my parents.

I knew the long corridors now well enough to not need to turn on any of the lights, something I had never imagined possible when we'd first moved here.

When David and Polly Meyers had adopted me when I was a few months old they'd been living up in Alaska, about an hour away from Juneau in a small town surrounded by wilderness, not wanting to be too close to the city. That place had been my home for the first three years of my life and when my parents had told me that we'd be going to live somewhere else, temperamental creature that I am, I was none too happy about it.

It didn't help matters that the new house in Upstate New York was huge and austere looking making me feel small and insignificant and forcing me to wonder how I was ever going to find my way through the maze of hallways and oddly placed rooms. But I came to love the big mansion-like building situated in the middle of the forest, 10 minutes away from the nearest town, with its twisty corridors, spare rooms, and all that space to run around in.

Of course I hadn't realized at the time that, to my mum and dad, this move meant coming home, to my dad especially, this house being the one he grew up in. And now, thirteen years later, the big house held a sense of familiarity to me as well.

As I went down the flight of stairs I passed a mirror and I kept my eyes down, I knew better than to look. The first time I'd seen my reflection after one of the nightmares it had scared me just as much as the bad dream. My usually tanned skin had become ash pale and glistening with sweat, blue eyes bloodshot and scared, full lips colorless and cracked, the whole framed by long blond hair tangled and messy, making me look like a maniac.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and grabbed a bright pink scrunchy Kristy had no doubt left behind when she'd come over to borrow my algebra book, and tied my hair up in a messy bun, it probably didn't help much but it made me feel better.

I headed into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water drinking it within seconds and then fulling the cup again and sitting myself down at the small table only ever used as a work surface.

I opened the sketch book to the drawing I was working on. I had several others like it, not completely finished blurred pictures of people or objects, bits and pieces of the nightmares haunting me. This was one of the ones I'd nearly finished, it was a portrait of a guy, he had a strong jaw, and an open smile with kind eyes, he was cute. At least I had that going for me right? Sure most nights I sleep for less than five hours, and even in those few hours I get very little rest, but at least I dreamed up good-looking guys.

This guy in particular was one I'd been seeing since childhood, an imaginery friend that my brain conjured up while I slept. Daniel.

I got back up to my feet and headed towards one of the drawers at the far end of the kitchen which contained different colored crayons, I took them all and scattered them on the table before sitting down again. I looked at each of them and then started coloring.

I don't know how long I was down there, an hour, maybe two, but when I looked up from the finished picture the time displayed on the oven told me it was 2:57. I sat a little longer observing my work. Daniel now had sun bleached blond hair, sparkling blue eyes and tanned skin with a light sprinkle of freckles over his nose.

I examined the picture more thoroughly, making sure I hadn't missed anything. The first time I'd dreamed up Daniel I'd been about five, and feeling particularly lonely, so naturally my brain had created a playmate, another child that I could play with while I waited for school to start. We'd played hide-and-seek, and tag, and so many other games, and meeting up with Daniel after I closed my eyes at night became a regular occurrence, sometimes to play, sometimes to talk. I'd tell him about my day, he'd tell me about his, we'd work through our problems together, give each other advice, cheer each other up when we were feeling down, and he quickly became my best friend, my only friend really. When school had started up in September and my brain had had other things to occupy itself with I'd started seeing less of Daniel, although he had shown up in numerous dreams since then, and even now at sixteen I still occasionally saw him. I often had to remind myself that he was in fact a figment of my imagination and not a real person, because to me he'd always felt so very real, like an old friend that I'd grown up with, I probably knew more about him than I did many of my other friends, and I knew that if my brain ever decided I was too old for an imaginery friend I would seriously miss him.

The wind howled outside, pulling me from my thoughts, and again I tried to remember what it was I'd been dreaming about but nothing came to me.

I was about to go back to bed when I heard footsteps and turned around to see my dad coming through the door.

David Meyers held an extraordinary ability, when he entered a room, conversation suddenly grinded to a halt and all eyes turned to him. This phenomenon could be explained by two things. One, he possessed a healthy amount of... almost proprietary confidence, caused by a vast quantity of charisma making him one of the best businessmen in the States. Two, at the age of 47, he still looked to be in his thirties, with a tall, muscular body, dark hair kept short and steely gray eyes that held yours and didn't let go until he saw fit.

Those eyes had been the downfall of many, seemingly, important people, and it had taken me 16 years to build up a resistance towards them and not cave to my dad's every desire, after all it is my job to keep him on his toes and it's hard enough to do that with a man who's used to getting everything he wants I don't need to make it worse by complying to each and every one of his inclinations.

"Hey sweetheart." he said as he noticed me.

"Hey, what are you doing up at 3 in the morning?" I asked.

"Getting something to eat. You?"

"Nothing, I was just heading back upstairs."

"Uh-huh, then why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" he said, walking towards the fridge, inviting me to talk about it.

I sat back down in the chair as he passed me a glass of milk and leaned against the counter in front of me. I took of my reading glasses and stared at the cup for a moment, wrapping my hands around it as though it could keep away the ever growing chill.

"Nightmare." I muttered after a long minute.

I saw my dad flinch slightly, and, looking back into the glass, recalled the first time we were here like this. It had been about nine years ago, and much like tonight I'd woken up from a dream I couldn't remember with a chill running down my spine, and I'd gone downstairs to find my dad working late, he'd brought me into the kitchen, sat me down at this same table and poured me a glass of milk, we hadn't gone back to bed that night, we'd stayed up and talked about everything and anything to get my mind off of things. The distraction had worked until the very next night when I'd woken up screaming, the same thing happened the night after that, and the one after that, like clockwork. Finally my parents took me to see a doctor who told them I was having night terrors, he gave me pills and that was that. Only it wasn't, sure the medication kept me asleep, but when I woke up in the morning I'd look sick and I'd be tired and I'd have scratches and bruises all over from trying to wake myself up.

It's around that time that the headaches started too, like sledgehammers digging into my skull, I got meds for those too but they didn't help much either. The headaches never went away but they didn't really hurt as much now, I'd gotten used to them. The nightmares though _had_ gone away after awhile and now they were back with a vengeance.

Of course, though, I didn't tell my parents any of this, even back then I knew it would just worry them more, and that was the last thing they needed, so I'd simply stopped taking the pills and told them that everything was fine and they'd believed me. But now it was all starting again and it was getting worse, it had been three weeks since I'd gotten a decent night's sleep and my head was throbbing from the near constant assault of light and sound it was receiving during the day. And although the fact that I was still walking around upright and uttering coherent sentences amazed me, I still needed sleep and if I didn't get it soon, I got the feeling my head might explode.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Darkest Powers books or characters or the Women of the Otherworld books or characters that all belongs to Kelley Armstrong

CHAPTER TWO

It had been nearly two weeks since the talk with my dad which had basically consisted of me reassuring him that everything was all right and convincing him not to tell my mum about any of it as she tended to overreact when it came to my well being.

The nightmares had lost some of their punctuality since then, no longer plaguing my every night but keeping it up at three to four times a week which was a start I supposed. The headaches, though, were still causing me grief, I'd just gone through a two hour English test feeling as though I was going to die, knowing that there was no point in asking to go to the nurse's office because they'd just send me home and that really wouldn't work in my favor. Plus I had a point to prove to the annoyingly sarcastic English teacher – aka the witch – who, even after a year of having me in her class, still perceived me as the dumb blonde type. I had, upon learning her opinion of me in September, made it my goal to do my best in her class if only to piss her off. But according to my last end of term report card my best only deserved a B and a patronizing comment about me "trying very hard to overcome my difficulties", so I'll be damned if I quit in the middle of the last test of the year probably leaving her thinking that I'd managed to hurt myself trying to understand the simplest of questions.

Anyway, it was over now and all I had to do was prey that I didn't have her again next September. I also had to drop some books off at my locker and get to track practice which I was already late for.

I'd started running track my first year at high school, mostly because it meant I wouldn't have to go home to an empty house, both my parents having to work late most days. But after the first round I'd realized that I actually honestly liked it, it was an unbelievable release for all of the excess energy that always accumulated after a day of class, and I was good at it thanks to long legs and a competitive attitude.

Running also helped with the headaches. You don't need to think when you run, you just run, everything else disappears, giving me a much needed moment of respite.

I arrived at the lockers at the same time as Kristy and Alice, the only good friends I had left, having lost my best friend last trimester after a messy break-up.

People still wondered how Kristy and Alice had become friends in the first place, after all it would be hard to find two people more different from one another.

Kristy is this bright and cheery creature with a shock of blazing orange hair and vivid brown eyes, she's only a couple of inches shorter than my 5'8" with the kind of figure that guys love, all curves and pretty shapes. She exudes this boundless energy that makes her hard to keep up with but so incredibly fun to be around. She's open and friendly and unstoppable and if she could ever slow down she may even improve her grades slightly, but that's unlikely to happen.

Alice on the other hand is quiet and calm with short dark hair and serene hazel colored eyes. She's tiny, barely surpassing 5'0", and has an almost childlike frame, curves only showing if she wears close-fitting clothes which she doesn't. Alice is either astonishingly patient or amazingly stubborn, probably a bit of both, she can convince people of the most unbelievable things with but a few words and she rarely speaks to anyone outside of her circle of friends meaning Kristy and I. She's also inconceivably smart, at 16 most of her course work is college level stuff and yet she categorically refuses to skip a few years, that stubbornness thing I was talking about. But I wasn't complaining, I wasn't sure I could deal with loosing another friend right now and I doubted Kristy would survive it, those two had been inseparable since kindergarten and I'd have hated to see what would happen if one of them were to leave.

"Hey Lea, how'd the exam go?" Kristy's bubbly voice greeted me as soon as I arrived.

"How do you think?" I replied, smiling as I opened my locker and crammed even more books onto the already precariously stacked pile.

"Well then this might cheer you up," Alice's soft voice said, "I heard the vice principal talking about throwing the witch a farewell party."

"Yeah apparently she's been assigned to a new school." Kristy added.

"Huh, you were right that did cheer me up." My smile now turning into a grin as we walked down the corridor toward the track field.

"You want to know what else I heard?" Kristy said, throwing her arms around our shoulders and looking at me, "Chris is planning on asking you to the dance."

"I heard." I said, not feeling so well any more.

"And?" Kristy asked, shoving me slightly.

"And nothing."

"Why not? He's hot, he's nice and he likes you."

"Yes but how many guys in this school don't like her?" Alice asked, seeming to be on my side about this one until she added, "But I have to agree with Kristy, he isn't even the usual dumb jock, he's actually quite smart. Besides you need someone to help you get over Jason, why not him?"

"Because I don't need help getting over Jason, it was three months ago, I am capable of moving on on my own, you know."

"Then why not Chris? He helps out at the animal shelter, he has two adorable little sisters he takes to the park on Thursdays after school, and he wants to be a doctor! He's perfect!" Kristy said, voice rising slightly, eyes wide, lips set in pout.

"Kristy, have you been stalking the poor guy?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"What? No!" she said, tone rising another two decibels.

"Uh-huh right. So moving along, are you both coming to the track meet next week?" I inquired, changing the subject.

"Wouldn't miss it, and we could go to the mall afterward to celebrate your glorious victory." Krisy said.

"I haven't won yet." I informed her.

"Please like you could lose, I think it may be genetically impossible."

"She has a point" Alice added, "I mean you've been in what, over 20 races this year, 5 of which were pretty big deals, and you haven't lost once, your speed and stamina are exceptional."

"If you say so. Anyway got to get going, if I'm late again the coach will have my head."

"No you'll need that to run he'll just take a hand." Kristy shouted as I started running down the hall.

I was only a few minutes late for practice and Mr. Larson, our beloved, if slightly grumpy, coach, only gave me a cursory scowl, he gave his little speech about how we were going to win at the meet next week and then we were off.

I was a part of the running event if you hadn't already figured it out, mostly sprinting and hurdles with occasionally some relay, it isn't a huge school so we have to multitask. We were put into various groups and started our warm ups and it was all going great... until it wasn't.

I was jogging around the track when it started, first a slow pulsing at the back of my skull and then a slight ringing in my ears. I ran faster willing the awful sensation to go away, unsurprisingly though it didn't. It was getting worse, the pulsing feeling turning into an ever increasing throb and the ringing was now earsplitting, flashes of bright light began appearing in front of my eyes, and an excruciating pain above my right hip distracted my mind from the headache just as my legs gave way and I fell to the ground. As my unconsciousness dragged me down into the darkness, one image kept replaying over and over in my head, my parents lying in their bed, dead eyes staring up at the ceiling, sheets covered in blood, and in the background a man with a scar, laughing.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Darkest Powers books or characters or the Women of the Otherworld books or characters that all belongs to Kelley Armstrong

CHAPTER THREE

I woke up in my bed, feeling sore all over from my fall, or, more accurately, from the landing that proceeded my fall which I managed to seriously fuck up. I'd ended up with a bloody nose, a goose egg on my forehead and more scrapes and bruises than I cared to count. But hey, it could have been worse, the school could have called my parents and they would both have left work, rushed over and driven me to the hospital and we would've been sitting in the waiting room for absolutely ever, my dad pacing up and down the room casting worried glances my way while my mum sat next to me cleaning my wounds with a wet cloth she got off one of the nurses and asking me how I was feeling every five minutes afraid I may have a concussion or something, then a doctor would see us and tell me I'd be fine after a bit of bed rest, we'd go home and I'd be escorted to my room where I was told to go straight to bed and my mum would reassure me that they'd check in on me every hour or so in case I were to spontaneously combust... Oh, but wait, that's exactly what happened. It didn't matter that I was conscious again and feeling fine when my parents got to the school, they still insisted on a trip to the hospital which was a complete waste of time, but there you go.

Last night my mum had asked me if I wanted her to stay home with me today, today being Saturday. I'd quite vehemently said no, there was no way I was going to get any rest whatsoever with my mum fussing over me, I now realized that may have been a mistake, sure she'd have been watching my every move, ready to whisk me off to the hospital if I so much as winced, but at least I'd have had someone to talk to, as it was I was alone with nothing to do and a nagging feeling at the back of my brain that I couldn't quite grasp.

I moved onto my other side, trying to get back to sleep, but soon realized that it was impossible, the only reason I'd gotten to sleep last night was because I was exhausted after my visit to the hospital and the doctor had given me painkillers, now that they'd worn off everything hurt.

I rolled out of bed and stumbled to my bathroom chucking off the tank top and track suit bottoms I slept in. I slid into the shower and turned on the hot water.

The shower had helped, as had breakfast if only slightly. I returned to my room feeling as though I could get through the day with little incident until the bad feeling returned, I chose to ignore it and started doing some homework.

I had to stop about fifteen minutes later noticing that I was too preoccupied to get anything done, instead I grabbed my phone and saw I had a text from Kristy.

 _"Heard what happened yesterday, U OK? + party Cole's 2night hope U can come"_

Cole was a twelfth grader who was going off to Stanford come September, he was also one of Kristy's very first boyfriends from back when the school sandbox was the local hotspot and we got chocolate milk before having a nap, and I'm not sure he ever quite got over her after she dumped him because Mathew Delaport had better crayons. How fickle the heart of a four year old girl can be.

As this would be like a going away party for him I could hardly not attend, but after yesterday I doubted my parents would let me go without a fight but I'd jump that hurdle when I got to it, for now though I sent an affirmative and a simple "I'm fine" to Kristy.

After that I wandered around the house unable to wait until tonight and the much needed distraction a party would bring to fight off the growing feeling that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

It hadn't taken much to convince my parents that I needed to get out of the house and do something, it did take a little more however to persuade them that a party would be better than dinner out and then a show. I loved spending time with my parents I really did but as they were still watching me as though I might keel over any minute now I figured a night to themselves might do them some good as well.

As I stood in front of the small two-story house where Cole lived I paused to rethink the wisdom of my master plan. From where I stood I could hear the music booming and the loud shouts of people trying to be heard over it, I could see the group of kids on the front porch all twelfth and eleventh graders who'd gone outside either for the fresh air or for a smoke, each held a bottle of beer or a glass of some other liquid. Now the last time I was at a party where alcohol was being served it hadn't ended well. I'd been fine but others had not, and it had fallen on those who could still stand up straight and walk properly to clean up the mess, it hadn't been pleasant, but as Cole had been one of the people tidying up I'd like to think that he'd taken precautions so that that wouldn't happen here, but other than bumping into him in the occasional hallway at school every once in a while I really didn't know him that well.

As I debated the matter, Kristy spotted me from one of the windows and waved me in, and there went my speedy escape. I walked up to the front porch and hoped for the best. As I pushed the door open it stuck and wouldn't budge any further, I slipped through the small gap to see that a guy from my English class was lying on his back in a pool of vomit at the base of the door.

Kristy appeared at the opening leading towards the living room, she was wearing a short black skirt and a dark green top that showed off a lot more skin than usual, that and the five inch heals on her feet made me think maybe Cole wasn't the only one who hadn't quite gotten over a certain kindergarten romance.

"Hey isn't that what's-his-name? The witch's pet?" she asked, waving a hand in the direction of Cole's new doorstop.

"Yeah but forget him, who are you dressed up for? Or is it dressed down?" I asked, smile playing on my lips.

"Shut up." she said while punching me in the arm. Taking a step back she surveyed my outfit and smiled before grabbing my arm and dragging me through a doorway. "Speaking of knockouts though that is a really nice top."

I looked down at the brightly coloured halter top Kristy had bought me for my birthday last month and smiled, "Yes it is quite nice isn't, a friend gave it to me."

"Must be one hell of a friend." she said, grinning.

"Not really, I've had better."

Kristy released my arm, faking a look of outrage that she couldn't hold for more than a second, "Well if that's what you think of me then I suppose there's no need for me to show you your surprise." She started turning away from me but I quickly reached for her arm and pulled her back toward me before she disappeared into the crowd.

"You've always been my favorite you know that." I said as I guided her in the direction she had been dragging me earlier.

"That's better." she said, smiling as she pushed open a door that led to the kitchen, there were less people here and the music wasn't as loud. She let go of my arm as she walked to the far end of the room were some boxes had been arranged to form a makeshift bar. As she hadn't told me to stay put I followed her, as I moved around a small gathering of people I saw that it wasn't a do-it-yourself bar, I was about to turn back around when Kristy materialized in front of me making me jump back.

"A little skittish tonight are we?" she asked, grin blazing.

"That is not a good surprise." I snapped at her trying to back away but finding a human barricade behind me.

"Now as you well know, not all surprises are good but as your friend let me tell you that this one is very good you just don't see it yet." she said, grin never faltering, she grabbed my arm again and started dragging me across the room, I dug in my heals but when she wanted to be Kristy really was quite strong.

"Don't you dare." I said as we approached our final destination, but obviously she didn't hear, or more likely didn't care and with one final shove I was there.

"Hey Chris, playing bartender are we?" Kristy asked, sounding as chipper as ever not noticing the death glares I was sending her way.

"Hey Kristy, Lea..." his gaze snagged on me traveling down from my face and then back up, "Hm, can I, huh, get you girls anything?"

"I'm good, Cole's got mine, so I'll leave you guys to it." And then Kristy vanished, swallowed by the crowd, I looked at the place where she had disappeared and had to remind myself that I would not look good in prison orange, I turned back to the blond behind the bar and steeled myself for a night in hell.

When I finally got back home it was past three a.m. and I really couldn't be bothered with the most basic form of hygiene so I just grabbed my pajamas threw them on after having tossed what I was wearing off, and crawled into bed.

I tossed and turned for a few minutes desperately trying to get some sleep but soon gave up and surrendered to my thoughts.

I thought about Jason and I thought about Chris and Kristy and Alice. I'd been friends with Jason since my very first day at school here, Kristy and Alice came along just after. I'd started dating Jason in ninth grade, and the transition from best friend to boyfriend had seemed natural at the time, only... well let's just say that sometimes it's just best to leave things as they are. It took me awhile to figure out that having that kind of relationship with Jason wasn't what I wanted, I'd tried to make it work, I'd wanted so badly for it to work, because I knew that if it didn't I'd be running the risk of losing my best friend, something I probably should have realized before I'd agreed to go out with him. But I hadn't, and as I tried to fight the growing inner turmoil that our relationship was causing me, I retreated inwards.

I think Jason knew what was going on, knew what I was feeling and that we were never going to work out, but he ignored it, everytime I tried to talk to him about it he brushed me off, refusing to admit to himself that we'd been wrong. We started fighting then, a lot, fights that ended with ugly words and slammed doors. I should have ended it then, but a part of me was still hoping that I wouldn't have to, that Jason would go back to being my best friend, that I wouldn't have to lose him. I was miserable and I thought it couldn't get any worse. I was wrong. Turns out he'd been cheating on me. When I found out, I confronted him, he didn't even try to deny it, I broke up with him, he tried to stop me, I walked away.

I saw him at school, in class, down the halls, but I ignored him, I hadn't spoken to him since that day, he'd tried to win me back, but when that hadn't worked he'd gone straight back to that other girl. They lasted a few weeks, then he moved on to someone else, and someone else after that. I never regretted ending it, only regretted that it had needed ending. Jason was no longer the guy I'd known and as sad as that sometimes made me I was fine with it. I just wasn't ready to jump right back into another relationship which is what Kristy seemed to think was best.

She'd given me a month to relax and recover, then she'd started pestering me with names of guys she thought would be good for me, her latest pick, and her favorite so far was Chris, and yes he was a nice guy and yes as I had told Kristy I was capable of moving on, I just didn't want to just yet. Alice usually stayed out of these discussions but recently she'd started joining in more and more frequently, worried about me or just trying to get Kristy to shut up? Maybe both but I suspected it had more to do with the latter. Alice had little advice to offer concerning boyfriends, Kristy was the expert so Ali let her handle it, but Kristy's past experiences dealt more with short term relationships, occasionally very short, so when faced with something that had lasted nearly two years she advised me to do exactly what she usually did, take a few weeks off and then find the nearest eligible guy and see if that worked, when I hadn't taken her advice she went on the offensive, chucking guys my way like there was no tomorrow. I'd have to talk to her about it. Tomorrow maybe, but right now I desperatly needed to sleep.

I don't know how long I'd been asleep, hadn't even realized I'd slept at all, but when I opened my eyes I saw smoke wafting through my open door, I jumped up and then the smell hit. Gasoline. I rushed out my room and before I could get so much as one foot away from my door I was bent over coughing, I pulled the top of my t-shirt over my mouth and that helped a bit but not much. I stayed bent over remembering a long ago fire safety class, I looked around and saw a bright orange light glowing at the far end of the corridor, where my parents' bedroom was. I ran toward it forgetting the smoke and the ever growing heat, I grabbed the handle of their door ignoring the searing pain as my hand touched the burning metal. As I yanked the door open I flashed back to when I fell Friday, the image I saw when I lost consciousness and suddenly fear gripped me, I moved into my parents' room and stopped dead in my tracks. I saw my mum's eyes first, usually a vibrant green they were now glazed over staring up at the ceiling, unblinking, my gaze moved down to her small form slashed up, my dad lying next to her, the sheets covered in so much blood...

I stumbled out of the room and then started running and I didn't stop until I was in the kitchen, I looked around, there was still smoke everywhere coming from another fire in the living room. It took me awhile to get past the initial shock if only momentarily, I couldn't break down now I just couldn't, I gave myself a mental shake and looked around the room again, I headed toward the phone fixed on the wall next to the refrigerator when I heard a floorboard creak, I stoped and looked down, I was standing on a tiled floor, I waited and listened. There it was again coming from my left, the pantry. I looked from the phone to the back door not so much debating the smartest move, I already knew what that was, if I went for the phone whoever was in the other room would hear me and rush out... but if this was the person who'd... who'd killed my parents, he could have killed me upstairs when I was asleep so why hadn't he? He must have known I was there, my bedroom door had been closed when I went to bed, he must have pushed it open to check inside, but he'd ignored me moving along the hall towards...

I tried to clear my head from the sudden cloud of grief that had invaded it but only managed to make it worse. I threw my hands in front of my mouth to muffle a sob and prayed the person, who was a mere fifteen feet away, wouldn't hear. Tears burnt my eyes decreasing my visibility even more than the smoke had. I tried to stumble toward the back door but only got a few steps before falling to the floor with a thud, I stopped moving, trying to pinpoint the location of the intruder, but all was silent.

I'd started to crawl across the room when my hair was yanked back, I shouted out in pain and turned to face my assailant just as he swung his arm down towards me, I thought he was about to hit me and I raised my hands to defend myself, that's when I saw the flash of silver in his fist, my brain screamed knife and my body twisted out of the way but not fast enough, an excruciating pain above my right hip, everything went dark for two seconds before I dragged myself back to the surface, the man was still holding my hair, I grabed it as well and throw myself to the side, thrown off guard the attacker let go, I rolled out of his grasp and used the refrigerator door to get to my feet, leaning against it I took a better look at the man in front of me, dull brown hair, a scar stretching from his chin to his ear, a hooked nose and eyes... horrible, dark, evil eyes, eyes I've seen before but not in the real world, only in the nightmares.

I choked back the need to scream and took a step towards the door, clutching the place where the knife had entered, the wound sticky with blood. I thought about my injury. Was it serious? How much blood had I lost? Would I need stitches? All completely irrelevant if I didn't get out that door and away from here. I took another step towards the exit, keeping my eyes on the bad guy waiting for him to lunge in my direction, he didn't, just stood there, twirling the knife in his right hand, smiling. I was about ten feet from the door when he spoke for the first time.

"You don't want to do that sweetheart, we both know you're not going to get very far."

I kept going ignoring him and his games of cat and mouse.

"You know you really shouldn't have woken up, I was assured that those sedatives would knock you all right out."

I stopped dead in my tracks, I told myself to keep going, don't rise to the bait, but it didn't do any good, I looked up at him, his smile had grown when he saw me stop, he was enjoying this.

"What?" I managed to snap.

"Now, now, no need to get testy, I'm doing this for your own good. Those people up there," he said, nodding towards the ceiling, "they can't take care of you. You're special Lea. And I'm sure you loved your parents very much, but you need to be with people who understand you, people who are special like you. Or maybe not exactly like you, from what I hear you're quite an oddity."

"What are you talking about?" My head felt heavy and my side was burning and it was a miracle I was still standing.

"Sorry sweetheart, can't give away the big secret just yet. But tell you what, you come with me, we can fix you up and then I'll explain everything." He said with this huge smile as if he really expected me to go with him.

"Go to hell." I muttered through gritted teeth.

His facial expression changed, becoming hard, malignant, dangerous.

"That's where I'm headed." he said, his voice cold and cruel. He sprang at me, knife raised, I dove to the floor and jumped to my feet only to realize that there was no way I was getting out of here without taking out the knife wielding madman who would no doubt chase after me if I bolted, and even though I could probably have outrun him on any other day, right now my injury was a serious disadvantage. That left me with one option and I really wasn't liking the odds of that one either.

My attacker was only about 4 inches taller than me but possessed the muscular build of a guy who didn't just work out to impress girls. I, on the other hand, was slender verging on skinny, I have a few self-defense classes under my belt as well as boxing which I used to do about four years ago when my mum started worrying that I shouldn't be wandering around town alone, and I doubted any of that would help much here but as that was my only choice and no alternative was presenting itself to me...

When the guy lunged at me again I twirled out of the way, a move not learned from any combat class but from a ballet lesson nine years ago. When my attacker charged by again, not even touching me, I turned and roundhouse kicked the guy, something I was very please with, he though did not seem terribly happy as he got back to his feet. He dove at me this time aiming for my lower half, trying to knock me off balance, I bounced back and swung my foot to kick him but he'd moved out of the way, he grabbed my leg and pulled me to the floor. I fell.

I dragged myself backwards, trying to scramble to my feet but he tugged me down again, he threw himself on top of me and the air was knocked from my lungs, I tried pushing him off but he didn't budge. He grabbed my left hand and thrust it over my head so hard my shoulder popped, as he reached for my other hand I smelled burning flesh, it took me a moment to realize it was my flesh, I looked up to see the hand holding mine glowing a bright red, as the searing pain increased I lifted my right hand to the back of his head, I felt a jolt travel through my being and saw my aggressor's eyes widen in shock then his body slumped onto mine, I waited a second but he didn't move, I struggled to push out from under him and when I was on my feet I braced myself for another attack, when none came I looked down at the assailant's limp form and as relief surged through me my vision went black and I crumbled to the floor.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's note:** Right so thanks for the reviews, love them! And here's a new chapter, enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Darkest Powers books or characters or the Women of the Otherworld books or characters that all belongs to Kelley Armstrong

CHAPTER FOUR

Fourteen months later, I sat on a plane heading for Juneau, Alaska, an hour's drive away from the place I considered my home town, the first place my parents took me after the adoption papers were signed in the city.

My grandparents said I was torturing myself, I saw it more as remembering the past to better be able to move on, but we rarely saw things eye to eye anyhow so it was irrelevant.

After "The Incident", as everyone had come to call it, my dad's parents had flown in from the Bahamas where they'd chosen to live after they'd retired. They'd been devastated. Susan Meyers, her steely gray eyes puffy and red, had abandoned her usual graceful stance and had stumbled out of the private jet, wearing a tailored skirt and a white blouse, the top was only partly tucked in and the skirt was creased from the flight, the clothes she'd been wearing when she'd heard the news. Peter Meyers was dressed in one of his usual expensive suits, he'd helped his wife off the jet and had then strode to one of the policemen who'd been waiting for them at the airport, it's only when he saw his son's body that the news hit him.

That had been the first time I'd seen my grandmother cry... she'd done a lot of crying since then. I suppose losing your only child can break even the strongest of people. My grandfather though, hadn't shed a single tear, he'd simply retreated into himself, a vague look in his eyes, occasionally murmuring some word of comfort to me or to his wife, giving a slow nod whenever someone spoke to him, not really listening to a word they said, not caring anymore.

As for my mom's family, well, she didn't have any left. Her own mother had died from breast cancer when I was little, I barely remember her, my only real memory of my gran is her funeral, how much everyone had cried, especially mum, they'd been close. Polly had had a sister too, three years younger than her, she'd died age eighteen in a hit-and-run, we never spoke of her. Mum's dad had started drinking after his wife's death, drinking a lot, he'd cut all ties with his daughter and had died only a few years ago in a car accident without ever having remade contact with his child.

The guy in the seat next to mine got up and moved to the aisle before leaning down towards me, he was in his mid-thirties, not exceptionally good-looking but handsome enough that the stewardess kept glancing over his way. He was going to Alaska on a business trip, a sponsorship thing, he owned three dogs, two labs, one retriever, and was not currently in a relationship. And no I hadn't developed the ability to read minds, he'd started talking to me the minute the plane took off, I'd been polite, I'd asked questions, whenever the conversation seemed to be turning toward me though I'd turned it right back around, he didn't seem to mind. When I'd noticed that he was getting closer and closer to me with each passing minute and that his hands had started to wander I told him that I was seventeen, he'd backed off. The conversation had died down after that.

"I'm going to stretch my legs for a bit, get something to drink, you want something?" he asked, his smile showing off a slightly crooked tooth.

"No thanks." I said. He smiled again and walked away. Looking out the small window I returned to my thoughts.

The guy who'd broken into the house that night was called Johnny Sangler, he'd lived in Buffalo, New York, he was a widow, his wife had died last year, causes of death unknown, he had no other living relatives.

The police couldn't figure out why he did what he did, after all there was no one to question. Sangler and I were found shortly after the fight, someone had seen the smoke and had called the fire department. Other than some smoke inhalation and a few burns I'd been fine. Sangler though hadn't suffered from the fire, the paramedics had marveled at that when they were looking us over in the ambulance. I'd managed to wake up for a few minutes just to tell them what had happened, my throat had hurt and they'd kept telling me I shouldn't talk but I'd kept going, then everything went dark again. Once we got back to the hospital they'd stuck a tube down my throat to help me breath but they'd quickly taken it out when they noticed I was awake, the police were there and they needed a statement, I told them everything, every detail. They made me go over the fight a few times, and kept glancing amongst themselves, I asked them what was going on, one of the younger officers answered. Physically Sangler was fine but the doctors had been unable to wake him up, the MRI had shown activity in his brain, but apparently that was the problem. There was too much activity. His brain was in overdrive, and to cope it had shut down all unnecessary functions, keeping him alive but barely. The medical team was saying odd phenomenon. The police was saying drugs. I was keeping my mouth shut.

I looked down at my hand now as that same jolt passed through my entire body once again. To say that I was completely used to the silver, electric-like, energy that circled and played along my hand when this happened would be a lie.

I hadn't quite figured out how I'd won the fight myself and that seemed to be what they'd all wanted to know. It had been about 8 pm and I'd just finished another late interview with the police, Susan and Peter were in the hospital cafeteria getting some food, I was pacing up and down my room. I'd been told not to, that I should lie down, rest, I didn't care. I'd been frustrated and angry and confused and hurt and it just happened. I saw it light up my hand and I'd jumped back, knocking over my bedside lamp, I'd reached out to catch it before it crashed to the floor but when my glowing hand touched it, there was a shock and the light above my head flickered and went out, the bulb exploding, shards of glass flying all over the place, I'd let go of the lamp and had run out of the room. The nurses had asked me what happened I'd said I didn't know. I'd spent most of that night thinking about it, and many other nights after that.

I learned that it happened when I was upset, when I was angry, but then it was destructive, uncontrollable. Curious, I'd started practicing. It got easier as I grew more confident with it, I got a handle on it and I noticed that the headaches were less frequent whenever I practiced and even when I didn't they were no longer as painful as they'd been before. I never told anyone about it, about any of it.

My grandparents had assumed that I would go live with them after everything had been sorted out, I'd said no, they'd thought I was still in shock and had left me alone for a while. When the investigation was over they started to insist we go see a judge to do it all properly, I'd said no, my grandmother had started to shout, I'd walked away and called my parents' lawyer and close friend. It's not that I didn't love my grandparents, I did but I couldn't live with them and I refused to move away from New York State so I'd gotten emancipated, it hadn't been easy. Money hadn't been a problem, I'd inherited everything, but I'd had to go see psychiatrists who had to make sure I was mentally stable. That had been trying, but I'd won, my grandparents had stopped fighting me, figuring that if they continued they'd lose me. Instead they moved back to New York, not to the house though, even if any of us had wanted to ever step foot in that place again the fire had burned practically everything, all that was left was a huge pile of scorched rubble, the only parts of it that had survived were the bedrooms, mine and my parents'.

I went back to school, I worked my way past other people's pity, I avoided their questions, I ignored their worried glances. Had I embraced it, it would have drowned me and I couldn't let that happen.

My neighbor returned with a bottle of water in his hand and started chatting away again, I settled back into my seat and relaxed.

We landed at 5:20 pm, and the taxi drove off half an hour later. As soon as we left Juneau the landscape around us turned into thick forest and the further from the city we went fewer were the traces of human existence.

It was seven o'clock when I saw the first buildings of the town, the cheery colors ranging from bright pink to Irish green, we drove past tidy lawns and well kept houses, a small school furnished for no more than thirty students from preschoolers to fourth graders, the single story town hall and the fire department/police station... Had we gone down the second street off the main road we'd have passed the bakery, O'Donnell's bar and a tiny store selling only the bare necessities, milk, cereal, eggs and canned everything else, meaning if you wanted anything edible for dinner either you went to one of the bigger towns a few minutes away to get food or you ate at the diner.

The taxi driver dropped me off in front of the town's inn, helped me get my bags out, took his money and then sped off back to the city. I grabbed my stuff and went inside. It had been about 10°C outside, not exactly the kind of temperatures I was used to for mid-August, but as soon as I stepped through the front doors the blast of heat nearly knocked me back onto the pavement. I shrugged off my coat and walked over to the reception desk at the far end of the foyer, I'd arranged everything over the phone a few months ago when I'd started planning this trip, I'd run into a few difficulties not being eighteen and all, but I'd managed to get past the initial protests quite easily.

I went up a flight of stairs and down a short corridor and ended up in a small bedroom with a homely feel to it. I abandoned my bags at the door and walked straight over to the window. The view was extraordinary. Fifteen feet away from the inn the forest began and continued as far as the eye could see, off to my left a jagged mountain rose up from the earth with breathtaking majesty and far to my right wisps of smoke could be seen from one of the many cabins that dotted the landscape, hidden by the greenery.

I stared out at the wilderness a little while longer, enjoying it's soft sounds and the peace it seemed to offer, before stepping back and giving in to my stomach's growling. I went off in search of food.

The diner was run by the same people who owned the inn and they were within walking distance of each over, but then you could probably walk the entire length of the town in under twenty minutes so everything was within walking distance.

The place was packed, people either here for the good food or for the company, the bar not opening for another hour on weekdays. I found a booth and a waitress hurried over to take my order. As I waited I searched the crowd for faces I may recognize. That may be attributing too much confidence to the memory of a three year old, but I could have sworn some of these people were familiar if only from pictures my parents had taken at the town get-togethers.

I was still searching the sea of faces when someone came up behind me.

"You waiting for someone?" a male voice asked.

I turned to see a guy, a few years older than me, about 6'0", a lean build, light hair, a nice face and sparkling hazel eyes, eyes that gave me a slow once-over and that glowed with the look of someone who's seen something he likes. I told him I wasn't expecting anybody and he slid onto the seat in front of mine, no invitation needed.

"I'm Luke." he said, confident smile playing on his lips.

That smile made me pause a moment, I got the feeling Luke wasn't just being friendly for the sake of it.

"Lea."

"You're not from around here."

"No, just visiting for a few days."

"Same here, you're staying at the inn next door?"

The urge to reply with something along the lines of "Well done Sherlock" was almost too strong to ignore, where else would I be staying? I could be visiting friends or family I suppose but then I'd hardly be siting here by myself would I? But I doubted he'd appreciate that kind of answer so instead I only nodded, he kept going, unphased by my inner struggle to play nice.

"Not much to see around here you know, well unless you're some nature hiker or something." He looked me other again, taking in the tight t-shirt, designer jeans and the heeled boots going up to my mid-calf. His smiled widened. Something about that smile was setting me on edge. It looked almost... predatory.

Luke kept pestering me with questions, was I here alone, when had I gotten in, did I like the scenery... My food arrived he didn't leave, just asked the waitress to bring him something too.

I was trying to be friendly, I really was. But something about his curiosity and the way he looked at me was off. He didn't seem to notice that I only said the bare minimum, that my attention wandered around the room, looking for a way out of his interrogation. My opportunity materialized in the form of a man, mid to late thirties, well over 6 feet tall, with a thin, angular face, shoulder-length jet black hair hair and a muscular build, he strode towards our table with a pissed off look in his dark eyes.

Luke saw the guy too, but he seemed more amused than worried at the sight of the huge man bearing down upon us, only whispered under his breath so only I could hear.

"Here comes mister kill-joy," Then louder so his friend could hear, "Hey Jul, you come to grab something to eat?" The man was in front of the table now "Julian this is Lea, Lea my friend Julian, not much of a conversationalist but great at poker and other card games."

Before I could so much as say hello, Julian glowered my way shutting me up immediately.

"What are you doing here Luke? You're supposed to be at the cabin helping Rodriguez." he said, turning his attention to the guy sitting opposite me.

"Ben can handle it, I wanted to socialize with some of the locals" His gaze swung my way with that predatory glint in them. "Or fellow travelers as it were."

"I should be going, it's getting late and you two obviously have something to discuss." I blurted out as I gathered my coat and bid my goodbyes.

I payed and walked up to my room as quickly as I could without it turning into a run. I locked the door behind me and leaned against it shaking off my nervousness. I rubbed my face and let out a shaky laugh, maybe coming here alone hadn't been such a brilliant idea after all, my grandparents had offered to come along, so had Alice and Kristy, I'd said no, this seemed like the kind of thing that I needed to do on my own, and how wrong I'd been. Here I was huddled in my room freaking out all because of some guy. I definitely wasn't getting enough sleep.

I had a quick shower and then crawled into bed, I closed my eyes and I was asleep immediately.

I dreamed of the two guys from the diner. I dreamed I was in the woods running from them but they kept getting closer. I ran faster, zigzagging around the trees and rocks. I felt my feet get wet, I looked down, a stream, I kept going, but they were still there, right at my heels, if I slowed down even slightly they'd be able to reach out and touch me. I tried to go faster but my left arm was burning and it felt as though I'd twisted my ankle. I didn't stop to check. And then I was trapped. Surrounded by a sheer rock wall on three sides with Julian and Luke blocking the exit. I looked up at the cliff but it didn't offer enough holds and creveces to climb. I turned back toward my pursuers and edged backwards until my back was pressed against cold hard rock. The two had stopped a few feet away, they were talking, their voices too low for me to hear.

As my brain fought to find a way out, a howl erupted from behind me. I looked up to see a blur of motion above my head, something jumped from the ledge and landed between me and the two men who scrambled back, the creature looked at me and as a part of my brain screamed wolf another part looked into those deep brown eyes and felt safe. It turned it's back to me. The wolf snarled at the two men and growled as he started toward them. I saw something move on my right, I looked up and on the ledge stood a third man, this one short and plump with graying brown hair and a gun. I stared at the gun for two seconds before realizing what it was, and that it was aimed at the wolf. A shot went off. I heard a scream, my scream. I woke up.

My eyes snapped open and the dream faded away into some distant, confused blur. I sat up in the bed and rolled my shoulders, I felt stiff all over and I noticed that the first pangs of an oncoming headache were tumbling through my head. I rubbed my eyes and headed for the bathroom, I splashed cold water on my face and I just stood there for a while, staring into the faucet, not thinking of anything in particular, clearing my head of the sleep fog.

An owl hooted outside, I turned to face the window, saw the expanse of trees and wilderness, and before I was consciously aware of what I was doing I'd put on a pair of jeans, sneakers and a sweater, I left my room grabbing my coat on the way out.

I told myself I wouldn't go far, just a little stroll along the edge of the forest to clear my head... at 1 am... alone... in a town I really didn't know... after a couple of strangers seriously freaked me out only hours before. No one would ever accuse me of thinking clearly at this hour of the morning again.

I followed the rule for about 10 minutes and didn't venture closer than five feet to the woods, then a light flickered to my left, in the forest, I stopped and looked at it, it kept disappearing and then reappearing, dancing around. I took a step closer, then another and another, until I was completely surrounded by trees, I shot one last glance behind me and I set off. I was only going to see what the light was, that was it, just that, then I'd be back in my room at the inn, no more wandering off.

At some point the light turned into lights and they seemed to be moving away from me. Every time I thought I was getting closer I'd blink and they'd be further away than I remembered. After a few minutes of this I stopped walking and looked around, I was in a small clearing, the moon and stars shinning just enough to see by, the lights were still dead ahead but I got the feeling following them further wouldn't be such a good idea, following them to begin with had been dumb.

I turned and started back the way I'd come, then I stopped, it was quiet. The entire time I'd been outside there had been an array of sounds, from birds swooping in on unsuspecting prey, to insects chattering away, to small animals running for cover, but now there was nothing, not a sound. Dead silent.

I turned full-circle around myself, taking in every detail, eyes narrowing to see better in the dull light, but suddenly there was no light. I looked up. A huge cloud blocked the moon. The smell hit me then, a heavy, musky smell, my first thought was bear, but then I figured no bear would wander this close to town, or would they? If they were curious, or hungry...

A twig snapped behind me. I spun around. Nothing. I could only just make out shapes with this lighting, I looked up again, the cloud was slowly drifting overhead. I urged it to go faster.

Another twig, behind me again, I turned, still nothing. A half second's thought of _"It's toying with me"_ before reason stepped in, animals don't do that. A flicker of movement to my left, I jumped back, but what if it wasn't an animal? Every muscle in my body was tensed, preparing for... for what? My instincts were throwing this whole fight or flight thing my way but I didn't even know where the bloody thing was, I could start running and crash right into it. And fighting it? The human body didn't exactly possess the proper tools to fight off a bear which had teeth and claws, not to mention that around here they could grow to about twice the size of your average human.

My frustration was growing, a small spark prickled my skin, I looked down, and smiled. My hand lit up with the silver light and I could see again. A humph sounded to my right, I lifted my hand in that direction, something moved at eye-level, I took a small step closer, the thing reared up onto it's back legs, it was over seven feet tall, I jumped back, it hovered at the edge of the clearing, considering.

It dropped onto it's forequarters and lumbered away heading deeper into the forest. I let out a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding. I waited a while before deciding it had left, but as I turned back towards town I heard a crashing behind me, trees crackled, branches snapping, before I could so much as glance over my shoulder something hit me in the back sending me flying. I slammed into a tree, pain exploded. I looked up, there in the middle of the clearing stood the beast, sparks flew around my hand, it roared and charged, I tried to roll to the side but my body wouldn't cooperate, the slightest movement caused agony.

From the corner of my eye I caught another blur of motion, this one smaller. A wolf. It leaped onto the creature's back, the bear reared up throwing off the canine, it turned to look at it's new adversary and stopped. It growled as the wolf got back to his feet, then chuffed and dropped down to all fours, one last glance my way and it left.

My gaze swung to the canine but the movement made my head spin, my vision blurred and the last thing I saw was a huge black wolf advancing toward me.


End file.
